1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing system including a plurality of printers connected with a network.
2. Discussion of the Background
Various printing systems in which a printer connected with a network is shared by a plurality of client devices on the network are known.
Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 9-48165 discloses a printer which, in response to a printing request, outputs and records on a recording sheet printing data received with the printing request. The printer has a function to restrict users who may use the printer, and is configured such that printer use allowance/non-allowance information, which determines whether or not to allow use of the printer, may be registered for each user. When a printing request is received, the printer determines whether or not to allow printing based upon whether or not allowance/non-allowance information is received together with the printing request and upon the contents of the received allowance/non-allowance information.
Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 9-288552 discloses a printing system in which a printer connected with a network is shared by a plurality of terminals via a print server and in which the users who can use the printer are restricted. The printer performs printing of printing data in response to a printing request received from each of the terminals. The printer includes a registration information storing device configured to register, for each of the terminals, printer use allowance/non-allowance information for restricting use of the printer. A control device controls whether or not the printer allows use of the printer when a printing request is received from each of the terminals together with use allowance/non-allowance information, based upon whether or not the received use allowance/non-allowance information is registered in the registration information storing device.
Japanese Patent Laid-open publication No. 9-185474 discloses a printing job management system in which a usage status of a network resource is precisely reflected on a charge for each printing job. The printing job management system includes a user identification information management device, which is configured to register user identification information and which is located between a first network with which a job issuing device is connected and a second network with which a printer is connected. User identification information is attached to each printing datum, and a job receiving and analyzing device extracts the user identification information from a received printing job. An authentication device determines whether or not the user identification information received from the job receiving and analyzing device is registered in the user identification information management device. A data transmission device transmits the printing data received from the job receiving and analyzing device to the printer only when the authentication device determines that the user identification information received from the job receiving and analyzing device is registered in the user identification information management device. When the data transmission device transmits the printing data to the printer, a charge calculation and management device calculates a charge for the job and registers a result of the calculation.
Japanese Patent Laid-open publication No. 10-161823 discloses a printing system including a printer shared on a network, in which each printing job record of each user is stored in a database in a print server for the printer. Based on the printing job record stored in the database, the number of prints each user may print and the printing functions of the printer each user may use may be restricted. The database stores restriction information specifying a range of usage privilege for the printer and a usage status of the printer, for each user identification information identifying each user of the printer. The restriction information specifies printing functions of the printer each user may use, and the number of prints each user can print with the printer. A printing authentication device determines whether or not to allow printing with the printer according to a printing request, referring to the database and based upon the contents of printing data and the user identification information, included in the printing request. A printing history recording device updates, after a printing operation is executed according to printing request, the usage status in the database, corresponding to the user identification information included in the printing request. A database reference and editing device makes reference to and edits the database in response to an instruction registered in advance.
In each of the above-described printing systems, information for restricting use of a printer is held in a printer or a print server for the printer, so that the decision as to whether to restrict use of the printer is made by either the printer or the print server for the printer.
However, in a printing system including a plurality of printers connected with a network, for putting restriction on the number of prints each user may print in the printing system, it is useful to manage the number of prints printed by each user at a single location in the system.
Further, some printers connected with a network can print printing data without involving a print server for the printer. In this case, the print server cannot manage the number of prints printed by each user, and accordingly restricting the number of prints for each user cannot be realized.